The Linemakers

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With the Clippers agreeing to a deal to make Doc Rivers their new head coach, the LVH SuperBook has made a significant adjustment to the team’s odds of winning next season’s NBA championship.

The Clippers are now 10-to-1 on the LVH oddsboard, after opening at 15-to-1 when the Heat and Spurs were tied at a game apiece in this season’s recently-completed championship series. L.A. is 9-to-2 to win the Western Conference, which makes them the third choice behind the Thunder and Spurs.

The Heat are the 2-to-1 favorite at the LVH to win their third straight NBA title, lengthened from their 7-to-4 opening price. William Hill was offering Miami at +230 last week.

The Clippers and Celtics have been negotiating a deal that would allow Rivers to move from the Boston bench to L.A. The talks originally centered on Rivers and Kevin Garnett being dealt to L.A. in return for DeAndre Jordan, draft picks and possibly guard Eric Bledsoe.

Sporting News’ Sean Deveney reports, “There have been two stoppages of talks altogether, multiple declarations on the death of the deal, almost as many assertions that something was close and, of course, interference from the league, which gently reminded the Celtics and Clippers that coaches could not be traded for players.”

But the Rivers aspect of the deal appears imminent, as the Celtics have agreed to let him out of his contract, which has three years and $21 million remaining.

“After rejecting an offer that would have allowed Rivers to coach the Clippers for second-round picks, the Celtics and Clippers agreed to a deal that will send an unprotected first-round pick in the 2015 draft to Boston,” Deveney writes. “The pick would be compensation for releasing Rivers from the final three years of his Celtics contract.”

The agreement still has to be approved by the NBA, but, the Boston Globe reports, “given that the deal is much simpler than the one these teams had proposed earlier, there is a strong chance it is approved and the deal is completed as early as Monday.”

It’s not clear if the Clippers and Celtics will be able to swing the Garnett-for-Jordan part of the deal, although there are plenty doubts around the league that commissioner David Stern will let it happen. Stern has made it clear that the league would view any trade involving Garnett as part of the original Rivers deal, meaning it would be in violation of NBA rules.

Boston is also shopping Paul Pierce, and if they buy out his contract by June 30, he could end up with the Clippers in L.A. as well.

Here’s the full list of odds to win next season’s NBA title, as well as the Eastern and Western Conferences, posted at the LVH: